NBA Playoffs 2017: Wizards vs. Hawks Game 4 live stream: Watch online
By John Buhler
Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series between the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks will be on Monday. Here is how to watch it online.
Game 4 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the No. 4 Washington Wizards and the No. 5 Atlanta Hawks is a massively important game in this best-of-seven series. The home team has won all three games in this series. Washington bested Atlanta in Games 1 and 2 at the Verizon Center, while Attack annihilated Washington at Philips Arena in Game 3.
Despite being down 2-1, Atlanta seems to have taken control in this best-of-seven series. The home wins for Washington hinged on point guard John Wall’s ability to take over in the fourth quarter. Atlanta was able to tread water on the road despite bad shooting out on the perimeter from its starters thanks to a massive mismatch in this series’ second units.
The Hawks clobbered the Wizards in the frontcourt in Game 3. While Washington center Marcin Gortat was excellent in Games 1 and 2, he and the rest of the Wizards’ big men were rendered useless on the road in Atlanta in Game 3.
While there is some belief that Wizards head coach Scott Brooks could mix it up with his starting five in Game 4, that probably is not likely. He will likely trot out Wall at point guard, Bradley Beal at shooting guard, Otto Porter Jr. at small forward, Markieff Morris at power forward and Gortat at center.
That being said, Porter did have to leave Game 3 with an injury. If we do see any shake-up to the Wizards starting five, we could see wing Bojan Bogdanovic start in favor of the ailing Porter. Bogdanovic and point guard Brandon Jennings have been the only reliable players coming off the Washington bench.
As for the Hawks, look for Atlanta head coach Mike Budenholzer to start the same five he has all series: point guard Dennis Schroder, shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr., small forward Taurean Prince, power forward Paul Millsap and center Dwight Howard.
Schroder, Millsap and Howard will start no matter what. Prince has been outstanding in his new playoff starting role. Hardaway has been streaky, so perhaps Budenholzer could go with wings Kent Bazemore or Thabo Sefolosha at the two to mix it up. Don’t expect that happen though.